Can You Sue Your Employer for a Workplace Injury in New York?

Workplace injuries are extremely common in New York, especially in industries like construction, transportation, hospitality, and healthcare. One of the most frequent questions we hear at Vlahadamis Law is:

“Can I sue my employer for my workplace injury?”

The short answer is usually no — because in New York, most workplace injuries fall under the Workers’ Compensation system, which protects employers from being sued while providing medical coverage and lost wages to injured workers.

But there are important exceptions.

Victims with certain types of injuries can bring additional claims — sometimes against third parties, and in extremely severe cases, even against employers under narrow statutory exceptions.

Below is a complete guide to what New York law allows.

Why You Usually Can’t Sue Your Employer in New York

New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law creates a “no-fault” system designed to:

• Provide medical treatment
• Cover lost wages
• Pay disability benefits
• Offer death benefits to families

In exchange, workers cannot sue their employer, even if the employer’s negligence caused the accident.

Workers’ compensation covers injuries such as:

• Slip and falls at the workplace
• Machinery accidents
• Overexertion injuries
• Repetitive stress injuries
• Workplace violence
• Construction site accidents
• Exposure to harmful substances

The Exceptions — When You Can Sue for a Workplace Injury

While workers’ compensation blocks lawsuits against employers in most cases, there are several important scenarios where injured workers may still recover additional compensation.

These exceptions can dramatically increase financial recovery, because they allow compensation for pain and suffering, full lost wages, and long-term damages, which workers’ comp does not cover.

1. The “Grave Injury” Exception (For Third-Party Claims Against Employers)

Under New York Workers’ Compensation Law §11, an employer may be sued for indemnification or contribution only if the worker suffered a “grave injury.”

Grave injuries include:

• Death
• Permanent and total blindness
• Loss of multiple limbs
• Permanent and total deafness
• Paraplegia or quadriplegia
• Severe traumatic brain injury
• Total loss of an arm, leg, hand, foot, or multiple fingers/toes

This exception usually comes into play when:

• A third party (e.g., a general contractor, property owner, equipment manufacturer) is sued
• That third party wants the employer to contribute to or indemnify part of the damages
• The worker suffered a legally defined grave injury

Workers still cannot directly sue their employer — but the employer can be brought into the lawsuit indirectly.

2. You Can Sue a Third Party (Even If You Can’t Sue Your Employer)

Many workplace injuries involve someone other than the employer who was negligent.

These third-party defendants may include:

• Property owners
• General contractors or subcontractors
• Manufacturers of defective equipment
• Drivers in motor vehicle accidents
• Maintenance companies
• Engineers, architects, or safety inspectors

These cases often overlap with:

• Labor Law 240 (Scaffold Law)
• Labor Law 241(6)
• Labor Law 200

A third-party lawsuit can provide significantly more compensation than workers’ comp alone.

3. You May Sue for Defective Machinery or Equipment

If a tool, ladder, lift, vehicle, or machine was unsafe or defectively designed, you may have a product liability claim against:

• The manufacturer
• The distributor
• The rental company
• The maintenance contractor

Workers’ comp does not block these lawsuits.

4. You May Sue for Violations of New York Labor Law (Construction Workers)

Construction workers have special protections under:

• Labor Law 240(1) (Scaffold Law)
• Labor Law 241(6) (Industrial Code violations)
• Labor Law 200 (General workplace safety)

These laws allow injured workers to sue property owners, contractors, and certain other parties even when workers’ comp applies.

5. Intentional Harm by the Employer

Extremely rare, but if an employer intentionally harms an employee — not just through negligence — civil lawsuits may be permitted.

Examples would include deliberate assault or knowingly exposing a worker to certain criminal acts.

Why Workers’ Compensation Isn’t Always Enough

Workers’ compensation only provides:

• Partial lost wages (typically ⅔ of salary)
• Medical treatment
• Limited disability payments

It does not provide:

• Pain and suffering
• Full lost wages
• Loss of future earning potential
• Compensation for long-term disability without limits

This is why third-party claims or Labor Law claims can be life-changing for injured workers.

What Should You Do After a Workplace Injury?

Your steps after an accident can significantly impact your legal rights:

• Seek immediate medical attention
• Report the injury to your employer
• Document the accident scene
• Get witness information
• Avoid giving recorded statements to insurance companies
• Speak with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible

How Vlahadamis Law Helps Injured Workers

Our firm represents injured workers across NYC, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and the Hamptons, handling:

• Workers’ compensation–related guidance
• Third-party lawsuits and Labor Law claims
• Catastrophic injury cases
• Construction site accidents
• Product liability cases

We work to identify every possible avenue of compensation, not just workers’ comp benefits.